Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Christmas season is here, and with wish lists and gift ideas fast approaching I want to encourage everyone to look into giving to charities in place of the usual gifts. Maybe there is a co-worker or neighbor you have no idea what to get for Christmas, or you have a close friend or family member that already has everything they could ever want- whatever the situation- donations to charities go a long way! My favorite organization to give to for Christmas is World Vision. They have a wonderful gift catalog that makes gift giving so easy! You will be able to pick a gift, whether it be "a goat and 2 chickens" to a needy family or a "share of a deep well" to a thirsty community, and make the donation in someone else's name. World Vision will send you a physical card that you will be able to wrap up and hand to the person you bought it for.
Technology now-adays makes it so easy and simple to research organizations that are close to your heart and then donating to the cause. I implore you this holiday season be generous with your money, be generous with your gifts. Ask for and give away these life-changing gifts and I promise you you won't regret it!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Holidays= tons of reasons to bake goodies and lots of people to pass them off to:) This makes me happy, happy because 1. I love to bake and 2. my sweet treats are appreciated and eaten up by neighbors/strangers/kids who at any other time of the year would have suspiciously thought I was trying to poison them because "what kinda crazy lady just gives out free desserts."
Soooooo- in honor of Thanksgiving and Autumn and Leaves and Pumpkins and yummy tasting things- I present my latest creation:

Personal-Size Pumpkin Pies!

Yes, they are darling aren't they? I am pretty impressed with the outcome. I saw a post on Bakerella's Blog for pumpkin pie bites, which I thought were so cute. However, the crust is my favorite part of a pie, so I wanted to make some pies with the top crust. Not just any top crust though, I wanted leaves. Why? Because I'm a sucker for leaves (no really, I love them!) and they are festively appropriate for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday!

I followed Bakerella's recipe, just made them in a regular cupcake pan rather than a mini-cupcake pan. I just cut out circles for the bottom crust (not pumpkin shaped like she does) and then used leaf cookie cutters(Maple Leaf Cookie Cutter (Google Affiliate Ad)) to do the leaf crust on top. Then I baked them in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 350.